Young Warrior
by Fabulanon
Summary: A story about a young, inhuman girl who gets involved with S.H.I.E.L.D.. At first, she doesn't look like much, but the team quickly discovers that she could make a great addition to the team. She has pyrokinetic powers, amazing battle skills, and more secrets than they could have ever imagined...
1. The girl on fire

Hey guys! I just want to say a few things up front: What I've uploaded here is the cut version of my story. Originally it was a lot longer (like, longer than the first Harry Potter book), and sometimes (often) got sidetracked, so I decided to cut it down a bit. If you like it, and decide you want to read the extended version, it's uploaded somewhere else on a different fan-fic site. Please leave a review telling me what you think, and I'll tell you where to find it!

Enjoy!

Love, Fabulanon.

It was a lovely, sunny day. All throughout the streets, people were happily walking along, and the terraces were full of people chatting and drinking in the beaming sunlight. Not a single person knew of the drama that was taking place, not far away.

Because there she was. Running through the Hydra headquarters, running from the guards that were chasing her. Jemma Simmons, agent of S.H.I.E.L.D had been working undercover, to try and find out what Hydra was planning next, and she had been discovered. She was all alone, unarmed, and had nowhere to run. Surely, this was the end.

She ran through the hallways, when her worst fear was realised, and she had run into a hallway with a locked door at the end. She was cornered, and the two guards were getting closer.

But the first person to come around the corner wasn't a guard. It was a girl. A teenage girl, of about 15 or 16 years old, Simmons estimated. Her golden-brown hair was falling just below her shoulders, and her face looked young and playful, but beautiful and mature at the same time. Her bright, blue eyes looking cold and menacing. She slowly walked down the hallway towards her, and the soldiers were close behind. The soldiers took out their guns and pointed them at the two women. "Who the hell are you?" They demanded of the girl, but she didn't flinch. She took out a knife with her left hand, and with her right hand, she forcefully pushed agent Simmons to the wall, knife against her throat. "Don't worry, I'm with you." she spoke coolly with her soft, melodious voice. "I'm subject 23 from the inhuman department. My handler decided that maybe it was time I made myself useful. Don't worry, you can lower your guns, I have everything under control." The guards looked hesitant but did not lower their guns. The girl continued. "What did you expect?" Now speaking directly to the woman she was still pushing firmly into the wall. "Did you actually believe that you could spy on us, and get away with it?" At this point, the guards slowly lowered, and started to put away their guns, but the girl wasn't finished yet, as she moved closer to agent Simmons. Tears started to roll down her face, as the knife was drawing a slight amount of blood. "Please…" She begged. "Don't do this." But the girl dismissed her, pushing the knife slightly deeper into her skin to silence her, and continued. "Either you are really brave, or really foolish… But either way, this is funny… Do you know what else is funny?" Her face was now directly in front of agent Simmons'. She was terrified. What could have happened to this poor, young girl that made her so willing to hurt someone? To make her so evil? She had now moved her mouth next to Simmons' ear, and whispered with her soft voice "I am not actually left-handed."

This comment struck Simmons as quite odd, and the girl moved her head back, so that they were facing each other again. The dark, evil look in her eyes was gone, and Simmons noticed a slight smirk on her face, as she winked. Simmons took a closer look and noticed that she was holding the knife with her left hand, quite clumsily, and had her right hand free, and on the side of the guards. The girl spoke again, but quietly, and with barely moving her lips. "Don't... flinch…" Her eyes darted to her right, to where the soldiers were standing, and who had now put away their guns, waiting for the girl to deliver the prisoner to them. But before anyone could realise what happened, the girl had jerked up her right hand, and swung it to the guards, sending a massive fireball to one of the guards, before spinning around, while quickly placing the knife to her other hand, and throwing it into the throat of the other one. Both were now lying on the floor, and it was clear that they were not going to get up again.

Agent Simmons had slid down the wall, onto the floor, where she was now sitting, looking shocked and horrified at the display. "You okay?" The girl asked kindly. "Sorry about…that." She said guiltily while pointing at the blood dripping from Simmons' neck. She girl ripped of a piece of her sleeve and handed it to her to stop the bleeding. Agent Simmons finally managed to utter "Ehm, well, thank you, I suppose. I'm fine, but what the hell is going on? Who are you? You're a pyrokinetic?" The girl offered her hand and pulled Simmons back to her feet. "My name is Nicole, but you can call me Nikki. Hydra captured me a few months back, as they were trying to recruit me for my inhuman powers. Whatever you did to anger these people, it distracted them, and I took advantage of the situation to escape my cell. After that, I just thought I'd return the favour." Simmons was stunned. "Wait, so you don't know who I am either? You are not working for S.H.I.E.L.D?" Nikki looked back at her, with an eyebrow raised. "That's the people you're working for then?" But before she could finish her sentence, the alarm was raised, and her expression changed. "Oh, right. We were being chased by these Hydra people. Forgot about that for a second… Let's save the chitchat for later and just get the hell out of here, okay? Just stay close."

They carefully walked through the halls, Nikki carefully looking around corners to make sure the coast was clear. She seemed so calm, and collected, and was completely focused on the task at hand: escaping. She used her powers to quickly and quietly take out the guards before they were seen. Simmons followed her closely behind, wondering about the strange girl. What caused her to have such amazing battle skills? And how was she still so calm?

As they were nearing a big room, she suddenly turned around and whispered "Okay, the exit is just around this corner, but there are guards everywhere, probably to make sure that we can't get out. I will distract them, then you make a run for it okay?"  
"Wait. Then what about you? You can't take on all those guards on your own!"  
Nikki's expression now darkened, as a glimpse of anger now showed in her eyes. Calmly, but firmly she said, "Don't ever tell me what I can and cannot do."  
But then the anger in her eyes faded again, and her expression softened.  
"Just trust me okay? Stay here, and when they are all focused on me, make a run for it."  
And with that she entered to room. She just looked at the guards and shouted, "Hey!", before immediately taking shelter behind a stack of wooden boxes, as a rain of bullets was fired her way. She held her breath, put up her hands, and walked to the edge of the room, surrendering. The guards surrounded her in half a circle, enclosing her with the wall on the other side. The pathway was now free for agent Simmons, but she hesitated. How was Nikki going to get out of this alive? She decided to sprint to the other side of the room anyway and hid outside. But she did not want to leave without the girl that risked her life to save hers. And thus, she hid, as she looked upon the girl, surrounded by 5 heavily armed guards.

Nikki then started to talk, and Simmons felt her heart drop. What was she planning? Was she really going to just talk her way out of this? "There you go! You got me!" She said smiling triumphantly. "I suppose I shall go back-"  
"SHUT IT! "The only place you will be going is hell!"  
Nikki tilted her head slightly to the side.  
"But why haven't you just gone and shot me then?"  
Simmons was torn. What was she doing? She was surrounded, and she was just taunting them? She had to go and help, but she had promised to do as she said. The guards however, stayed silent, and this was when Simmons realised what Nikki was trying to do. Say what you will, even the fiercest soldiers would be troubled if they had to murder an unarmed, surrendered child. And Nikki knew this. The guards were confused, and she was playing in on that, changing the expression on her face to look younger, and more innocent. Until after a long silence she played the most stupid, and simple trick that anyone could think of. She slowly pointed to somewhere behind the guards, looking fascinated, and said "Hey look! A distraction!" To Simmons' greatest surprise, they all bought it. Nikki quickly threw a few punches when the guards had their backs turned, knocking them out, and then ran outside, where Simmons' looked at her, just speechless. "I can't believe that that actually worked!" And Nikki gave her a little smile, while slightly raising her shoulders. "I know. It's so stupid. But that's exactly why it always works! No one ever expects someone to be so foolish to play a trick like this." And they ran into the streets, out of sight from the Hydra facility.


	2. The asset

"So. I just saved your life, now please tell me what that life is." Nikki and Simmons were walking through some busy streets somewhere far away from the Hydra facility. "I'm not sure I can tell you that, actually. That's classified." Nikki snorted. "Wow. I just saved your ass, and you can't even tell me your freaking name."  
They stopped.  
"Simmons. Agent Jemma Simmons of S.H.I.E.L.D."  
Nikki took her extended hand. "Well. Nice to meet you Jemma."  
"What about you then? Where did you learn to thrown knives like that? Or take on 5 guards at once?"  
"Classified!"  
Simmons laughed. "Oh, so that's how this is gonna go? You're a sassy one, aren't you?"  
"And proud to be one."  
But then the smile left her face. "In all seriousness though. If you are working for a secret organisation that is fighting Hydra, I want to join! I may not look like much, but I can be of use, let me help!" She had stopped walking, and was now standing in front of Simmons, blocking her path. "I know that the only reason why you haven't contacted any of your people to pick you up yet, is because I'm still here. But I'm not going anywhere, so you might as well take me with you."  
"Oh. Sassy, AND stubborn then."  
Simmons sighed. She pushed Nikki away and walked on. But Nikki didn't give up and kept following her. After a while she turned around, frustrated. "Why do you want this so badly anyway? S.H.I.E.L.D. is dangerous. Don't you have parents to go to? It's a lot safer there, and I'm sure that they will be missing you after you have been gone for months!" Both women fell silent. After a while, Nikki, the girl that had seemed so strong and composed the whole time, suddenly burst into tears, as she shouted back at Simmons. "No, I don't. Both questions you just asked me, I can answer at the same time. Hydra killed my family. My father, my mother, and my sister. When they took me, they killed everyone, and burned down the house. All because they wanted me in their stupid inhuman army, and I refused to come willingly." She turned around, hands in her hair, and tears streaming down her face. She stood there for a moment, and Simmons looked on, dumbstruck, as the girl fell to her knees, her face buried in her hands. Simmons knelt beside her. After a while she broke the silent tears of the young, orphan girl, and said, "Alright then. But know that it is not up to me. You will have to go through screening, and director Coulson will have to decide if he lets you on the team or not." And with that said, she took out her phone, and contacted the base.

It was dark, and Nikki could only feel two pairs of hands forcing her into a chair, before the bag was pulled from her head, and she could look around the room. She was sitting in a chair with all kinds of wiring attached to it, and her. The room was dark, with all kinds of machinery that she did not recognise. However, most intimidating were the two men, dressed in dark suits, which were standing before her. After a while, the first one spoke. "Hello. My name is Director Coulson. I apologize for the way you have been brought here, but you must understand that there are certain protocols that ensure everyone's safety." Nikki gave a slow nod, but kept silent, so the man continued. "Agent Simmons told us that your name is Nicole, and that you saved her life, back in the Hydra base, is that correct?" Again, Nikki gave but a slow nod. "She also told us you were a bit more talkative." Coulson said raising his eyebrows slightly and giving a small smile. "Don't worry, we're not going to hurt you, we just want to ask you a few questions. After that we will decide if we ARE going to hurt you or not. See you are in our secret base, and we have no idea who the hell you are." Nikki looked down at the ground. Now, the other man spoke. "I'm Agent Koenig. I am going to ask you a couple of questions. You are hooked up to a lie detector, so if you are untruthful, I will know." Nikki took a deep breath and said "Alright. Sure. I have nothing to hide. Ask away." The two men looked at each other, and Coulson said, "I will leave you to it then", before he left the room.

Agent Koenig sat down next to the machinery, that Nikki now recognised as a bunch of screens, giving data of the lie detector. There were a lot of screens, so Nikki understood that this was the real deal. Koenig begun: "Okay, first question. Can you give me your full name?"  
"Nicole Lilith Amanda Dace."  
"And how old are you?"  
"I will be 16, May second."  
"And where are you from?"  
"Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Are these really all the questions you're gonna ask me, though? Because all this is also on my passport." She smirked.  
"Agent Simmons told us you were a smartass. Fine. Personality questions then. You are stranded on a deserted island, and there's a box. What's in the box?"  
Nikki thought about this for a moment before she replied.  
"The Cornucopia."  
Koenig fell silent for a moment and said. "Okay, fair point. That one is actually rather clever. Next question then. What is the difference between a rock and an egg?"  
"Smash 'm against each other, the egg breaks, and the rock gets dirty."  
"What is your alignment?"  
She fell silent for a moment, but then she answered: "Chaotic good."  
"Yes?"  
"I consider myself to be a good person, but I won't deny that I can get a little bit impulsive sometimes. Got me into a bit of trouble a couple of times…"

Questions like this kept coming for a while. Nikki alternatively gave either sassy or smartass answers, though a couple she answered seriously. Until finally they arrived at the last question.

"Agent Simmons told us that Hydra killed your family, and now you want revenge. Is that why you are here?"  
Nikki closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "No… at least… I don't know… I don't… think so…" She looked down at the ground. When she looked back up, she looked more determined, but there was compassion and kindness in her eyes. "Revenge is evil. Hatred… is evil. I don't want to let it consume me. I just want to help, to prevent others from sharing the same fate that I did… I have skills that allow me to do extraordinary things, but I have no purpose for it. Everything is gone, I'm alone…" A tear rolled down her face, and she flicked her eyes up towards the ceiling to try and prevent more from coming. She failed. "My… ultimate goal is that… I can do my part to make this world have a little less hurt. So… If I may ask a question in return… can S.H.I.E.L.D. help me do that?"  
"Thank you for your answers. That will be all for now. Now the director will decide over your fate.

Director Coulson was standing in his office, looking at the big screens, on which the interrogation with Nikki had just been displayed. Now, however, it was just showing Nikki sitting in her chair in that empty room. He, agent Simmons, agent May, agent Fitz, and agent Johnson had just watched the entire thing, and now it was up to them to decide what was going to happen to the girl. Agent Koenig then walked into the room. "I've asked everything I wanted to ask. The decision is now up to you director." But Coulson turned to agent Simmons instead. "What is your assessment of the situation, agent Simmons?" She got up and walked towards the screen. "Well, she did save my life. And she risked her own to do so. She is scary though. She held a knife against my throat to trick the guards into putting their guns away, but she was so convincing, I really thought that she was going to kill me."  
"Well I say we keep her!" Agent Johnson cut in. "I mean, she's clearly on our side, and I just really like her attitude."  
"Yeah, she's a lot like you when we just met, Daisy." Fitz said.  
"Well I think it's a bad idea." May suddenly said. "Phil, think about this. She's a child, barely 16 years old. Are we really recruiting orphans now? What if anything happens to her? Can we really guarantee her safety?"  
"Your objection has been noted, agent May, but I agree with Daisy. She could be a valuable asset to the team, and she knows a lot about the inhuman army Hydra is raising. She could be of use. I think we should just keep a careful eye on her. But at this time, with this war against Hydra, maybe we should consider every enemy of Hydra to be an asset. Agent Simmons, you brought her here, which makes her your responsibility. Will you show her around and keep an eye on her?" Simmons stood up. "Yes, sir." And she walked out of the room.

After Simmons had given her a small tour around the base, director Coulson walked up to them. "Nicole, I would like to see you in my office. Agent Simmons, I believe Fitz was looking for you." "Understood, sir." and she walked away. Coulson turned around and walked away, and Nikki followed closely behind. When they were alone in the room, Nikki was the first to speak. "First I want to thank you for letting me in. I promise that I won't let you down." But Coulson interrupted her. "Let me make one thing very clear. We don't know who you are, but since we need all the allies we can get, I have decided to trust you. Do not betray that trust. Am I making myself very clear?" Nikki looked down at the ground. "Crystal." Coulson continued, this time his voice a little kinder. "I just want to ask you some more questions about your time with Hydra. How did you end up there?" Nikki sat down. "They must have somehow found out about my powers. I didn't use them all that often, but I suppose that one of them must have seen it sometime. They came to me one day. Told me that I could do extraordinary things with my 'gift'. Offered me a job. They looked nice enough, but I didn't trust them. And I didn't want to abuse my powers like that anyway. So, I refused, went home, and believed that to be the end of it." She fell silent, and closed her eyes, clearly trying to keep a straight face, but failing. "But it didn't end there, did it? They came for you again." Coulson asked. Nikki opened her eyes again but didn't look up. She did give a small, almost imperceptible nod though. "They were at my house… And this time, they were a lot less friendly… They forcefully dragged me into a van, went inside to kill any witnesses, and set the house on fire… "

The last few words were barely audible, as she was choking on the tears that were now rolling down her face. She had pulled up her knees, and rolled herself in a tiny ball, hiding her face. All her fierceness and sass were gone. She was just a lonely, heartbroken little girl. It was heart-breaking to watch, but Coulson tried not to show it. After a moment of silence, the girl spoke again, this time stronger, and more determined. "But I got back at them for it." She said with a small smile, which was halfway between sadness and joy. "I made them believe that I could barely control my powers. So they didn't actually send me on assignments to kill people." She gave a small chuckle. "No, I just wasted their time, as they were trying to teach me to control my powers. Trying to train me into a soldier, while I kept burning all their stuff and equipment. Accidentally of course." She added with a wink. "I believe that at one point, I even burned some important files or something. Whatever it was, they were NOT happy." She laughed.  
"You sound like you are ready to fight. If you want to help us take down Hydra, though, you will have to train hard. Agent May will help you with your battle skills, just karate is not going to cut it I'm afraid." Nikki looked up again. "Can I also help in the lab? Jemm-, I mean, agent Simmons showed it to me, I think I can help there as well…" "That's up to Fitz-Simmons to decide then. Either way, don't underestimate how hard this is going to be. Now get some rest. I do have a lot more questions for you, considering Hydra's inhuman-army, but there's still plenty of time for that." Nikki stood up and nodded. "Thank you." After a moment of silence, she quickly added "Sir!" and held out her hand. Coulson shook it, before having her escorted back to her room.


	3. Inside Hydra

Two months after she took residence in the base, and trained for hours every day, Nikki finally got to join her first mission. She had told the team everything she knew about the inhuman-army that Hydra was raising, and the base itself. Now it was up to them to take back the base and save the captured inhumans… While she stayed in the base, waiting for their return.

"No, Nicole, that is my final decision!"  
He was just about to leave for the Hydra base when Nikki tried to appeal to him one last time.  
"Come on, Phil, please? I can help! I know I am only fifteen, but I can handle myself, I'm not made of glass! Melinda says that my combat training is going very well. AND I know my way around the base. AND I personally know some of the inhumans, so they might trust me! How are you going to convince them to come with you?"  
"For the last time, Nicole, it's director Coulson to you, and her name is agent May. And I know that you're not made of glass, but I don't want to be responsible for you! You could die on a mission like this! I think you underestimate how dangerous this is going to be!"  
"No I'm not! Don't you dare tell me what I can or cannot do!" Nikki stepped out in front of him and blocked his path.  
"Please… _director_. Let me be of use. I won't be in the way, I promise."  
Another silence.  
"If you want to help, go to your room and stay out of trouble. That's my final decision."  
And she stormed away angrily.

As the Zephyr neared the Hydra base a while later, Coulson addressed the team one last time. "Remember the plan. We are here for the inhumans, that's priority one. Get them to safety. Any Hydra agents you can take out are a nice extra, but the most important thing are the hostages!"

The most important part of the mission was keeping quiet. If they managed to get in and out of the base quietly, they could make sure that no one got hurt.

Everything went according to plan. For the first part at least. They managed to sneak into the facility through a back door and were on their way to the containment cells where they held the inhumans. Along the way, they managed to take down a couple of Hydra agents with ICER's so that they wouldn't be noticed. Agent Simmons and Nikki had both tried their best to describe the base, so they managed to find their way around easily, and knew where they had to expect guards. Everything went very smoothly. The problems arose when they reached the cells.

"Who the hell are you?" One of the inhumans asked when he saw them.  
"Are you going to hurt us?"  
"We haven't done anything wrong, I promise!"  
Everywhere, the inhumans panicked. Before they knew it, the alarm was raised. They had made too much noise.  
"Everyone, just stay calm, we're with you. We're here to get you out of this place, you have to trust us." Daisy said calmly to try and calm them down. But her voice was drowned out in the chaos. Suddenly, the cells sprung open, and the inhumans stormed out. Some of them fled, others tried to attack the team. And above all that, there was no doubt that the Hydra agents were also approaching.  
"Enough!" A voice yelled through the room.  
Nikki was standing in the doorway. A couple of inhumans looked up at her, recognised her, and fell silent. But then another voice spoke from within the crowd.  
"Nikki?"  
They made eye contact, and Nikki ran over to the girl, taking her into a big hug.  
"Leah!"  
Leah was in complete contrast with Nikki. She looked strong and tough, where Nikki looked sweet and gracious. Her dark hair was braided back, her big brown eyes looked kind, but also determined and strong. She wore mostly black, but not per se in a way that made her look like a rebellious teenager. She was a fighter. A warrior.

But this moment was broken when Coulson spoke up again.  
"Nicole! What are you doing here? I thought I ordered you to stay in the base!"  
"Yeah, and it looks like it's a good thing that I didn't. How were you planning to get these people to trust you?"  
Leah looked up at her.  
"You know these people?"  
"Yeah, they're the ones that got me out of here, and now they've come for the rest of you. Help me get everyone to calm down, we need to go. Now!"  
Leah nodded, and moved around the crowd to get people to listen. Nikki climbed up some of the bars so that everyone could see her, before she addressed the group.  
"Everyone, listen up! These are good people, they only want to help! If you don't trust them, trust me! Everything is going to be all right, but we need to move!"  
Right then, the Hydra agents had reached the room, and moved in with guns raised. They were cornered.  
"Everyone! Get back to your cell, and no one needs to get hurt!" They demanded. It was silent for a moment, until Nikki shouted.  
"Leah, now!"  
A bright light went over the room, blinding the agents, and Nikki took advantage of the moment to take them out with her fire. The way was now free for them to escape. Nikki walked over to Leah, and high-fived her, Leah's hands still glowing slightly by the light she had just emitted.  
"Just like old times!" She said happily.  
"Ready to kick some Hydra-butt?"  
"You bet I am!"  
And they ran out of the room, leaving the S.H.I.E.L.D. team behind to rally up the last inhumans.

When they had caught up with the duo, they were just taking out the last guards. They were a perfect team and knew exactly how to use their powers together. When they had cleared the last room, they ran over to each other, pulling each other into a hug, and then performed some sort of intricate personal gesture. It was like they were two halves of one brain.

"Aren't you going to introduce us to your friend?" Coulson asked when they got back to the Zephyr. Some inhumans had thanked them and left, while other had joined them to go to the base. Leah was one of those people.  
"My name is Leah Pandargin." She said, and she held out her hand. Nikki cut in. "We met each other during my time in the Hydra base. She was the one who made sure I didn't give up fighting. We were making plans to escape, but we never got the chance."  
"You did." Leah said. But it didn't sound resentful. She sounded glad.  
"I really wish that I could've taken you with me."  
"Why, what happened?" May asked.  
Nikki took a deep breath.  
"You remember how I escaped? Jemma caused a distraction, and I managed to get out of my cell midst the chaos. Leah did too…"  
"So what happened?"  
Leah looked up.  
"Simple. There were too many guards. Escaping was easy, as all the guards were looking for someone else, but when we went back for her, we ran right into the lions' den. We were cornered, and I used my powers to give Nikki a head start."  
Nikki looked down at the ground.  
"I'm so sorry I left you behind, Leah. What did they do to you after they recaptured you?"  
"It wasn't pretty, but I could take it. They hurt me, but that only fuelled my hate for them, and now I got back at them for it. I just wanted to make sure that at least one of us got out, and it looks like you did. You even managed to save the woman we went back for. I don't regret anything, Nikki."  
She pulled her into another hug.  
"I'm just so glad you're okay." Nikki said, almost crying.  
"So, what now?" Leah asked, and Nikki looked up at Coulson.  
"If you want to be part of the team, you will have to go through screening, and you will have to work hard, this is not going to be easy. I think Nicole can tell you all about that."  
Nikki rolled her eyes and sighed. "That I can… But don't worry Leah, not everyone is as grumpy as Phil is." She winked at her.  
"For the last time, it's director Coulson to you!"  
"Sorry Phil." She said, and she pulled Leah away to check in on the rest, still giggling.

Leah stayed in the base, just like Nikki, and the two were inseparable. Leah had a strong will and powerful personality but was fiercely loyal. Something that was shown especially when someone treated Nikki with less respect that she, according to her, deserved. It seemed like she had assigned herself as Nikki's personal bodyguard, and did everything she could to protect her, both physically and mentally.


	4. Anastasia

Time passed, and seasons went by, as Nikki finally became a full-fledged part of the team. After Leah had fought for her a million times, Coulson finally gave in, and let them both come on missions. They proved to be very useful, especially when they were put together. It was like they were psychic, as they always fought in perfect harmony.

After their last victory, Fitz, Simmons, Daisy, Leah, and Nikki decided that maybe it was time to relax a little, so they left the base for a lovely day of their own. They started off just walking through the streets, enjoying the happy chatter of the people surrounding them, and sitting down on terraces for some ice cream.

A little while later, they were walking through the city, talking, and laughing. Nikki and Leah were walking hand in hand. But suddenly, Nikki let go, stopped, and stared down a dark alleyway. "Nick, you coming?" Leah asked. But Nikki approached the alleyway. "I thought I heard something." She said carefully. "Of course you heard something, it's a dark alleyway, let's move on, it could be dangerous." But Simmons had barely finished her sentence when they all heard a scream. Nikki darted into the alleyway, and the rest, hesitantly, followed her. They ended up at a dead end, a young woman, wearing rags, sitting against the wall, shielding her face. In front of her was a man, holding a knife. "This is my alleyway. You're trespassing on my territory, and now you will pay for it!" The woman shouted with her hoarse voice. "No please! I didn't know!" Nikki didn't wait any longer and charged the man She jumped on his back and tried to pull the knife out of his hands. He was surprised, but not for long. It all happened in a flash, but after that, Nikki was leaning against the wall, bleeding heavily from a giant slash in her belly. "You dare attack a man from behind? Foolish girl, coming here, all alone." He screamed angrily. "Who said she was alone?" Leah said, as she had now moved past the corner, the rest was close behind. Leah used her powers to blind him before Daisy rushed in and knocked him out. "Are you completely out of your mind? You can't just do something like that!" Simmons screamed, as the rushed over to Nikki to inspect her injuries. "Don't you tell me what I can or cannot do. And don't worry. I'm all right, it's just a cut. Go check on that woman." She grunted as the hoisted herself up again. Daisy moved over to the woman, who was still covering her face and cowering against the wall. "It's okay. We're not going to hurt you. We're friends." She held out her hand and pulled the woman back to her feet. She could feel the bone in the skinny hand. This woman was starving. "Thanks" She stammered, as she now looked directly at Daisy. There was a moment of silence, until Nikki finally looked the woman in the eye. "Ana?"

Everyone fell silent. "Nick…?" the woman stammered, clearly confused. Nikki ignored her cut, and walked over to the woman, wrapping her into a big hug, and bursting into tears. "Ana? Is that really you?" Fitz was the first you speak. "Wait, you two know each other?" he asked. Nikki let go of the woman and said. "Guys. This is Anastasia. My sister!" She turned back to Anastasia. "Ana, I thought you were dead! How are you here?" She quickly spoke a few sentences in Dutch that no one could understand, as her sister replied in slightly shorter ones. In the corner they could hear the man grunting. "Okay, lovely family reunion, but maybe we should leave before that guy wakes up." Daisy said quickly, and they all left the alley, back to the base.

Nikki sat next to Anastasia, while Simmons was checking if either of them was badly hurt. "Nikki, I'm afraid you're going to need some stiches. What the hell were you thinking?" But Nikki did not respond. She just held her sisters hand in silence, as she examined her. Her clothes were filthy and torn. Her skin cracked and dry, and she was so skinny that you could see the structure of her bones beneath her skin. "Have you just been living on the streets this entire time…?" She managed to say with a crooked-up voice. But Anastasia didn't say anything. Daisy stood up and held out her hand to her. "Come on, I'll get you cleaned up, and then we can find a place for you where you can get some sleep okay?" "She can sleep in my room." Nikki said quietly, and Daisy and Anastasia walked out of the room together. In the doorway she turned around and said. "Leah, are you coming? I think Nikki has enough on her mind right now, she needs to rest." Leah nodded, and followed them out the room, leaving just Simmons, Nikki, and Fitz. Nikki closed her eyes as agent Simmons was finishing the stiches. She had resisted for a moment, as she had always hated needles, but the impression that this day had left on her, made her too exhausted to fight Simmons. "You look like her." Simmons said kindly to break the silence that had fallen over the room. Nikki looked up, a tiny smile on her face. "Thanks, but she's not my actual sister. I was adopted. Did I never tell you that?" Fitz and Simmons looked at each other. "No… I don't think you did." Fitz said, confused. "Well, I was. I was just a baby though. I grew up in that family, so it doesn't really change all that much. Even though we're not actually blood-relatives, I love her with all my heart." "I'm sure you have a lot to talk about then. I'm done here, you can go. But do give her some rest first, I can't imagine what she's been through." Nikki nodded, and left the room.

That night, she and her sister were sitting alone in her room. Everyone else had given them some time alone, as they didn't want to intrude on these personal matters. Anastasia had been given some clean clothes, and most of her cuts and bruises had been treated. She already looked a lot better, although she was still very weak. "So." She finally spoke. Her voice was still soft, but a lot stronger now. "When are we going to escape?" Nikki stared at her, completely taken aback. "What?"  
"They kidnapped you, didn't they? For your powers? I saw them take you away! I followed you all the way to the US to rescue you!"  
Nikki shook her head. "No Ana, it's not like that." She fell silent for a moment. "The people that took me… I managed to escape from them. That was Hydra. This, where we are now, this is S.H.I.E.L.D. They help and protect people like me. They helped me escape those other, bad, people, and then they gave me a home. They're good people, Ana, we can trust them. They are like my family now."  
"Family…" Ana whimpered softly. "Mum… Dad… They're really gone, aren't they?" Nikki stayed silent for a while. "You're not." She then said, looking at her sister. She pulled her into a big hug. "How did you get out of that house?" She asked quietly.  
"I wasn't downstairs. I was listening from the staircase, I don't think they even knew I was there… They shot mum and dad, and then moved onto the kitchen. I just managed to climb out of the window before they set the house on fire. You remember that little, broken down wall beneath your bedroom window? I guess it finally became useful…"  
"I'm so glad that you're okay! I can't imagine what you've been through. Living on your own, on the streets this entire time, trying to find me!"  
"I just wanted to make sure that you were safe."  
"I am. Just like you."  
Silence fell between the two again. "I love you Ana." They fell asleep together, and Nikki felt as though a hole inside of her had been filled once more.


	5. Concealed trauma's

Anastasia stayed for the next couple of weeks. She was gradually getting better and stronger and was getting along with the team just great.  
"Wait. So, you graduated University, with honours, when you were…"  
"15!" Anastasia shouted happily. "My parents were so proud.  
She was sitting in the living room with Fitz and Simmons. They were the two people with whom she had bonded the most, since it was clear that her intelligence rivalled theirs. "Another biologist." Fitz said mockingly. "Don't you two go ganging up on me!" They laughed. "Come on Fitz." Simmons said. "You still have Nikki. She might not have graduated, and she might not exactly be an engineer, but it's close." They talked on for a while, until Nikki walked in. She had a huge smile on her face. "Hey guys! Whatch'a doing?"  
"Hey Nick." Fitz said. "We were just talking. Your sister is great!"  
For just a fraction of a second, it looked like Nikki's eyes grew darker, but she kept smiling, so everyone just brushed it off. "So, guys. I made something really cool, and it's finally finished. You want to come and see?" She asked happily. "Yeah, sure. We'll be over in just a sec. Anastasia was just telling us about het university-life." For a second time, Nikki's eyes grew dark. This time, a little while longer. "But… I have been working on this for so long! You'll love it! I swear! Just come with me!" Anastasia looked up at her. "Nikki, they said they'd come over in a second, calm down." She turned back to Fitz and Simmons and continued the conversation. Nikki didn't leave, but instead just watched as they continued talking. She just stood there for a moment while no one even noticed that she was still there. Then she left the room.

No one saw Nikki for the rest of the day. Not that that was anything to worry about on itself, because Nikki had the tendency to just disappear from time to time. She would go to her room and meditate, or read, or just do something on her own, in silence. Everyone just gave her the space they thought she needed. The first person to look for her, was Daisy. She had just had another disagreement with Coulson. They had those a lot. And maybe he was right, he was the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., naturally there were things that he couldn't just tell anyone, but it still wasn't fair. She walked up to Nikki's room. She could always cheer everyone up and was always in for a good talk. Daisy knocked on the door. "Nick, you in there?" There was no answer. She knocked again. But still no answer. Daisy slowly opened the door and looked inside the room. It took her a moment to process what she saw. The room was trashed. Things knocked from the desk, and her bedsheets lying in the middle of the room. Chair and lamp knocked over, and pieces of wallpaper ripped off. Everything to show that a struggle had taken place here. And there, in the middle of the room, was Nikki. Blood under her fingernails, a huge bruise on her head, and some slashes on her arms. She was lying on the floor unconscious. It took a moment for Daisy to take in the scene, before she ran out of the room, looking for help.

Nikki was lying on a hospital bed when she woke up, her cuts and bruises had been treated. "Good! You're awake!" Simmons said. Nikki felt her head and got up. Every part of her body aching. She buried her face in her hands for a moment, before wiping her hair out of her face with her right hand. Simmons was looking at some monitors that were displaying her vitals. When Nikki looked around the room, she could see that Daisy was also standing there, looking at her expectantly, but she said nothing. After a while, the silence broke, and Daisy asked: "So? Aren't you going to tell us who attacked you?" Nikki looked tired and confused, and with a soft crooked voice she asked, "Wait. Why? What happened?"  
"Well I found you in your room, knocked out on the floor, with the entire room in ruins, and blood everywhere. So, what the hell happened? Are they still in the base? Because maybe it's a good idea to catch them!"  
Nikki sat up a little straighter. "No… guys… I'm fine. I'm just a little tired, but no-one attacked me."  
The door opened, and Anastasia walked through. "Nikki. Are you all right? I heard what happened, came as fast as I could." She walked to the bed, clearly planning to sit down next to her, but when she saw her face, she suddenly stopped. She waited for a moment, hesitating, before she sat down on the table that was standing elsewhere in the room. Daisy looked at her.  
"Wait, who told you that Nikki was here? I thought it'd be better if we kept this quiet until we caught who did this. I didn't tell anyone…"  
"Yeah, well, it's her sister. I felt like she had to know that this had happened..." Simmons replied.  
"Wait, why?"  
Simmons suddenly turned around and opened her mouth, but didn't speak for a while, as she was trying to choose her words carefully. "Nikki…" She began slowly. "Is there… anything that, you would like to talk with someone about…?" Nikki looked at her. Her face was calm, but her eyes gave away that clearly, she did not like this question.  
"What do you mean?" She asked.  
"Before you passed out… Did you feel… weak, or, like you couldn't breathe? Claustrophobic?"  
Daisy looked up at her, surprised. "Wait, you're thinking panic attack?"  
Nikki jumped up, ripping the needles of whatever things had been monitoring out of her arm. "What is your problem? I said that I'm fine!" After saying this, she regretted pulling out all the needles, as her face contorted in pain for a moment. Then she continued, slightly calmer, but clearly still angry. "Don't you go playing these mind games on me, you're no psychologist, for fuck's sake, you're not even a real doctor! Just someone who happens to have a PhD in biology! Don't you dare go snooping around in my head! None of you! That's none of your goddam business. Leave me alone!" And with that, she stormed out the room, leaving everyone bewildered behind. Anastasia looked at the door, her expression unreadable, before she left the room as well without saying anything.  
"What the hell was that?" Daisy asked concerned. She looked at agent Simmons expectantly.  
"I don't think she was attacked. It just doesn't make sense. No one has seen anyone come in, or leave the base, and no one inside would have any reason to attack Nikki like that." She started to clear up the mess that Nikki had left behind. "Besides, I found tremendously excessive amounts of cortisol and adrenaline in her blood. Whatever happened, it freaked her out, and she does not want to talk about it." Daisy looked at her in surprise. "So, you're saying that she trashed her room herself?" She was trying to make it sound like a joke, but Simmons didn't laugh. "Yes. I do." There was a moment of silence. "Have you ever seen her show any real emotions? Apart from those heat-of-the-moment tantrums she sometimes throws, I have never actually seen her angry, or sad, or afraid. It's unnatural." "Well, she showed quite a lot of anger just now!" Daisy said confused. But Simmons brushed her away. "Because she couldn't keep it in any more. The question is, why did she try so hard to?"

Nikki stayed locked in her room for the rest of the day, and strangely, her sister did the same. Multiple times the team had tried to get them out, but neither of them responded. Even Leah could not get through to Nikki.

The next day however, everything suddenly seemed to have returned to normal. "Good morning!" Nikki said happily as she entered the kitchen to get some breakfast. It seemed like nothing had changed. Simmons looked up in surprise. "You look like you're feeling better than yesterday. Are you okay?" Nikki smiled at her. "Nothing that a good night's sleep can't fix! Sorry about that, though, I didn't mean to yell at you." She gave a kind smile.


	6. Story of the two sisters

Hey guys! In the extended version of this story, I included a song (that I wrote myself!). I decided to leave it out in the cut version, but if you want to see it, please tell me, and I'll add it in!

Love, Fabulanon.

At night, however, the severity of the situation was revealed again. Daisy was woken in the middle of the night, by what sounded like screaming, coming from Nikki's room. She rushed in to check, only to find Nikki next to her bed, with her hands in her hair, screaming and crying. Leah was already sitting next to her, looking panicked. A little orb of light was hovering above them, illuminating the room.  
"I don't know what to do!" Daisy rushed over to them, and also tried to calm Nikki down, but she didn't respond in any way. "I don't think she can hear you" Simmons said from the doorway, also awoken by the screams. She and Fitz also walked in the room, but Nikki didn't seem to notice it. "Nikki. Calm down. Talk to me. What happened? It's not real, it's just a bad dream. Let it go." Simmons said calmly, but Nikki still didn't respond. "I don't know what to do!" She said to the rest. "This is not really my area of expertise." They heard more footsteps, which stopped just in the doorway. Anastasia was standing there, holding a little music box. She didn't say anything but placed the music box on a little table next to the door, and pressed play. Soft music filled the room. Then, Anastasia started to sing, quietly. Her voice filled with pain and sadness, and not as beautiful as Nikki's was, but still soothing and kind. Her voice quickly calmed down Nikki, and Anastasia picked her up, put her back into bed, and tucked her in, before she turned around, and gestured for the rest to follow her.

When they got back to her room, and she had closed the door behind her, she finally spoke. "If this ever happens again, just give her my lullaby. That's the best way to help her." Daisy looked at her, surprised and confused. "Wait, I get that she's your sister, but how did you figure out how to do this? Has this happened a lot before?" Anastasia nodded sadly, before sitting down on the edge of her bed. "I am… _was_ the only one who knew about this. I've had to do this a couple of times before. It still breaks my heart, but I have to. It's my fault anyway…"  
"This was a panic attack, probably triggered by some bad dream. How can you blame yourself for that, you weren't even in the room?"  
Ana pulled up her legs, and rested her chin on her knees, staring blankly into the room. "Because I knew what the nightmare was about. She never told me, she probably won't even remember this tomorrow morning, but it's not hard for me to guess what she saw." She let out a sad sigh and begun to talk.

"I had a wonderful childhood. I got so much praise and love from our parents. With my top marks, and all my friends, and later my amazing boyfriend, everything was just perfect, and my parents were so proud of me. And they showed it. They were so kind, and nice, and did everything they could to make me feel loved and appreciated. I was showered with gifts every time I had another great mark at school."

"They sound like wonderful people." Fitz said. But Anastasia's eyes grew sad.

"No… They weren't… My sister, she too had good marks, but never quite as great as me. She got in to university at such an early age, and that is such an amazing accomplishment. But no matter what she did, no matter how hard she tried, I was always better. And because of that, she was always the disappointment, never good enough for our parents. The better that I did at school, the more love and praise I received, but I didn't realise how hard I was making it for her to keep up. And the more I was admired and complimented, the more she was beaten and yelled at… And I did nothing…"

She had to gasp for air as she started to cry. Leah turned around and put her hands in her hair. She was clearly furious and tried very hard to keep her anger under control. But Anastasia continued.

"After a while, she just broke. She had to cope with depression almost her entire life, and she had to do it alone… And I was just too blind to see how I just completely overshadowed her… The first time I found out that something wasn't quite right was my high school graduation. But it wasn't just my graduation that day. I think it was also the day that she got the lead role in the school play that year or something, I can't even remember. But the party was for me, and for me alone." She gritted her teeth. "And Nikki was just standing behind the corner, listening, as no one even asked for her… That is, until my parents found her... It happed in the background, but I remember yelling, and when I looked, I could just see my mother twisting her arm back, before my father grabbed by the throat, and slapped her right across the face…" Anastasia was trembling. "He slapped her so hard, she fell down to the ground. The floor shook as she came down…"

She closed her eyes firmly, and put her hands over her mouth, as she remembered the events of that day. She looked horrified. She sat there for a moment, as she cried. Fitz, Simmons, and Daisy sat down, looking horrified by the story, but Leah unleashed her anger into throwing a pillow across the room with full force. It knocked over a lamp, but she didn't seem to care. "Who the hell would that!" She screamed, furious. "I swear, those people are lucky they're dead, or I would really like to have a 'talk' with them!" She looked around at Anastasia. "Sorry, I didn't mean…" But Anastasia nodded. "No, you're absolutely right." She took another deep breath and continued a bit calmer.

"That evening, I went to her room to check on her, see if she was all right. She was lying on her bed, crying. But when she noticed me, she wasn't sad. She was angry. And she started yelling at me, blaming me for what had happened. I was just confused. How could she blame me for what our parents did? And then I got angry, I was so selfish…" Another gasp for air. "She threw me out, slammed the door in my face. As I turned away, I could just hear another scream coming from the other side of the door. But I just moved away and returned to my own room. I regretted that later though. Even though I still couldn't see that she was slowly dying inside, I still loved her. So, I went back to her room at night, and cleaned and bandaged all her wounds. She must have been so exhausted, she slept right through, probably never even noticed I was there…"

She stopped talking, clearly lost in thought for a moment, but no one dared to say anything.

"The next day, everything was back to normal, and she acted as though nothing had happened. Quite like how she did after what happened a couple of days ago. Which is why I quickly sort of brushed it off, and forgot about it. But she was holding back all her pain and sorrow, this entire time. And eventually, it took its toll on her, and one night, she snapped."

She waited for a moment, clearly hesitating if she wanted to continue, or stop here.

"This was… about a year after what I just told you. She was 14 when she finally gave in to her feelings. And they were so many. The only explanation I can give is that it just overwhelmed her. Took complete control of her. Because what I found that night, was not my little sister… It was her birthday. The one day in the year that truly belonged to her. But no one was there. Our parents went to some sort of concert, somewhere else in the country. They had left early in the morning and would sleep in a hotel there afterwards. As for me… I was with my boyfriend… I would have stayed at his place for the night too, if it wasn't for the fact that we got into a massive fight. I can't even remember why, it was such a horrible night… I got home, expecting my sister to be in her room or something, but the lights in the house were off. And then in the darkness, I could see her standing on the pavement, waiting for me. I don't know how long she'd been standing there. She didn't even say anything, she just looked at me. And without even saying a single word, she just attacked me."

Anastasia slowly lifted the bottom of her shirt and showed a scar that ran over her body.

"She had a knife. I didn't know what was going on, but one thing was clear: She was not going to stop until she had killed me. I think that maybe she believed that if I were gone, our parents would finally love her… It all went so fast, I barely had time to think. All I remember is that I suddenly had the knife, and knew that it was either me or her… So, I stabbed her…"

An eerie silence fell over the room, as the team sat there, shocked. They could not believe that anything like this had happened. They were afraid to ask anything, but they had to know. Daisy carefully asked. "How bad was it…?" Anastasia looked down at the ground.

"It's all a bit blurry… too much happened too quickly, and I barely had time to process anything… I remember the ambulance taking her away, and then, she was just… lying there. She was in a coma for a week… And I just didn't understand why something like this had to happen… Until I found a note on the desk in my bedroom. I don't know how it got there. In the last moments before her anger consumed her, she must have put it there. She said that she loved me, and didn't want me to blame myself for what was about to happen… Or hold it against her" She took another deep breath, and another tear rolled down her face. "I went there, every, single, day, for hours at the time. Gave me lots of time to think. That was when I realised that I had never told her that I loved her, but more importantly, I realised how much she had needed it. I had been so arrogant... But even if she did survive, I wondered if she'd be the same…"

"Was she?" Simmons asked quietly.

"When she woke up, she didn't remember anything. To this day, I have never told her. She is already so harsh on herself, she would never forgive herself if she knew what she had done, it would destroy her. So please, do not ever tell her about this. Anyway, everything seemed to have turned back to normal, and I was so relieved to have my little sister back, rather than that thing that I found on the pavement that night… But even though it wasn't clear at first, I quickly found that she had been damaged by what happened. Our bedrooms were directly next to each other, and I could hear her wake up every night, screaming. At first, I didn't know what to do, I couldn't get her to stop. She would just keep screaming and crying for an hour, before falling back to sleep exhausted. The next day, she didn't remember it, but she'd be physically ill, that's how horrible she felt. I decided not to make the same mistake again, and this time, I was there for her. I didn't know if she could hear me during her nightly panic attacks, but one time, I just started to sing to her. And I told her everything that I had never told her. Everything that I should have had…"

"The song you sang to her tonight…" Fitz asked. Anastasia nodded.

"From that moment, every time that she woke up at night, I would give her that reminder. She still felt resentful sometimes, and I don't blame her for that, but after a while, she let me back into her heart. And I found out that, yes, she had changed, she was not the girl I grew up with anymore. But she was beautiful. There was so much about her that I didn't know. She had shielded her entire life from us… And I can't help but feel glad that she did. Our parents would have destroyed all of it if they found out. 'Not until her marks got better.'"

"That's horrible!" Daisy exclaimed.  
"So were our parents…" Ana replied sadly. She looked up. "Please. Promise me that you won't forget to tell her that she matters. For now, let's just go back to bed, though. And maybe try to talk to her tomorrow. She might be able to tell you more than I can."


	7. Say goodbye

Like Anastasia had predicted, the next morning, Nikki didn't remember a single thing of what had happened that night. However, it was clear that she was exhausted, and felt horrible. She visited her sisters room, to talk to her in private. "It happened again, didn't it?" She asked quietly. Anastasia didn't say anything but pulled her sister into a sweet and warm hug, before pulling her onto the couch beside her. "Did I wake anyone?" She asked carefully. Anastasia looked her in the eye. "A couple of people. Fitz, Simmons, Leah and Daisy." Nikki looked down at the ground, pulled up her knees and put her hands in her hair. "Shit…" She said quietly. "They weren't supposed to know about that. Not yet anyway…" She looked back up.  
"How much did you tell them?"  
"Everything. At least, everything I could tell them, and felt like they should know. But don't worry, they took it very well. Now they're just worried about you. They really care for you, you know?"  
But Nikki stayed silent.  
"You should talk to them. They're not going to judge you, and they're not going to throw you out. Not everyone is like mum and dad, these are good people."  
"But what do I tell them?"  
"The truth."

Later that day, after Anastasia had passed on the message to everyone that Nikki had wanted to see them, they were all sitting in Nikki's room, talking. In a way, it was a strange situation. Nikki had always been the one who lend an ear to whomever wanted to get something off their chest, and she never asked for anything in return. But now, she was the one doing the talking, and she wasn't holding anything back. She retold the story that her sister had told them last night, though from her perspective. Yet since she couldn't remember the night that she had almost killed her sister, her story was slightly different. But that wasn't the point of this talk anyway. She just needed to take a leap of faith and trust her new friends. She had always kept her vulnerabilities in the dark, but now it was time to show them, and to accept them.  
"Sometimes I'm just afraid that I'm going to end up just like them, you know?" She said softly.  
"Why?" Daisy asked. "You are nothing like that! Why would you even think that?"  
"Because I've been damaged… That's something that can't be undone. Some scars cannot heal, and maybe they'll corrupt me one day."  
Leah moved over and sat down next to her, pulling her into a hug.  
"Yeah, sure. You're damaged. You're not perfect. And to be honest, sometimes you really drive me crazy-"  
"Leah!" Simmons shouted, but Leah continued.  
"But that goes for everyone here. Nikki, please don't ever forget: you're the manure from which pretty flowers grow. They are just a piece of shit."  
It was the strangest compliment that she had ever heard, but that was exactly why it worked, and Nikki started to giggle.  
"Thanks, Leah."  
"Anytime."

After everyone had left, Nikki headed back to her sisters' room, only to find it empty. Literally empty. The sheets had been taken of the bed, and all personal belongings had gone. Nikki rushed out of the room, and ran through the base, only to find Ana in Coulson's office. She burst into the room, cutting Coulson off mid-sentence. "Ana?" She asked, confused. Then she noticed the packed bags standing on the floor. "You're leaving?" She added softly. Anastasia walked over to her, and took her hand, not sure of what to say. "We decided that it might be best if I don't stay here permanently…" She said quietly. Coulson interrupted. "She told me about the past you two have. I'm sorry Nicole, but if you want to be an asset to this team, I need you sharp, and apparently, this is a problem." He had said it very kindly, to make sure that it was clear to Nikki that this was indeed the best solution. Anastasia continued. "Nick… this is your world, not mine. You may have always felt like you were in my shadow, but now, I'm in yours. You are far more valuable to these people than I am. It's time that I find my own place. My own home…"  
Nikki burst into tears. "But Ana, I love you. You're all that I have left. Don't leave me, please…"  
"I know Nikki, but we both know that if I stay, I would only be holding you back. You can do extraordinary things, but the only way to move forward is to let go of the things that are holding you back. You need to set yourself free. As long as I am here, you can't do that. I love you so much Nikki, and that's exactly why I am giving you your best shot here..."  
"But where will you go?" Nikki asked through her tears.  
Anastasia pulled herself back together and put on a brave and determined face.  
"I am 18 and have a PhD in microbiology. Agent Simmons has pulled some strings and got me into contact with some other biologists. They offered me a job, starting tomorrow. They already payed me some part in advance so I could rent an apartment there. Don't worry about me, Nick. I'll be fine."  
"Can I at least visit?" Nikki asked.  
Ana pulled her into a big hug.  
"I will be looking forward to those days with all my heart."

At the end of the day, she was gone. Nikki had cried, and screamed at first, but eventually accepted it to be the best solution. And Anastasia promised that she would call as soon as she was settled in. And Nikki would be looking forward to the day that she could finally see her again.


	8. the 084

_A year passes…_

The door opened, and Fitz and Simmons walked through the door of Coulson's office. "You wanted to see us?" Simmons asked. He looked up at them and gestured for them to sit down. He then stood up, and opened a secret vault under the table, before picking up a strange object with a piece of cloth and putting it carefully on the table.  
"Hopefully I don't have to emphasize that everything I am about to tell you is strictly classified?"  
"No of course not!"  
The object was a little wooden staff, about as long as your lower arm. The wood was glossy and pitch-black, but beautifully decorated with symbols carved all around it. "This 084 was found a couple of days ago, not far from here. At first it didn't seem like much, until some resident found it, and tried to pick it up. I advise you two to only pick it up using the cloth, that poor man still hasn't recovered from the burns."  
"And you want us to, what, figure out what it is?" Fitz asked.  
"Exactly. And find a cure for those burns. For some reason, they won't heal."  
"Understood. Is there anything else we need to know?"  
"There's nothing more we _do_ know."  
"We'll get to it then."

They were standing in a private lab, trying everything they could to monitor the strange object, with computers and machines hooked up to it.  
"There are markings on it… What do you think they mean?"  
"I don't know, we'll first need to figure out what language it is, and somehow, I don't think there's a dictionary for it…"  
Simmons walked over to the screens and examined the data. She let out a little gasp.  
"Look at this Fitz! It's… it's like it's alive…" Simmons said, fascinated. He came in to look. "That's strange, how could that be? That's impossible." He looked at the monitors, confused, as Simmons walked back to the table, holding her hand just above the object, but she quickly pulled it away again. "It's… vibrating?" she brought her hand closer to the object again, the closer it got, the more it started to vibrate, and for some reason even she didn't understand, she couldn't resist picking it up. She was mesmerized by the object and moved her hand even closer. Fitz turned around just in time to see it. "No! Jemma! Stop!" He screamed, but he was too late. She had already picked it up. Fitz rushed over to her, ready to pull the thing from her hands, but then he noticed that she didn't get burned. Instead, the marking just glowed, like a fire was burning inside of it. They just looked on in awe. "It doesn't burn you?" He asked, confused. But Simmons didn't respond. She just looked at the object, like she was in a trance. "Jemma…?" Fitz asked carefully, clearly concerned. He pulled the thing from her hand using the cloth, and put it back on the table, before turning around to her and holding her face with both hands. "Jemma!" It was like she awoke from a trance. "Fitz?" She moved her hand to her head. "I think I need to sit down for a moment, that was freaky…" They sat down.  
"Jemma? What happened? Are you all right?"  
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just feel tired and have a slight headache. Yet, somehow, I don't think it was going to hurt me."  
"Well it certainly looked like it was hurting you! Why the hell did you pick that thing up? Do you remember the last time that Nikki did that with the last 084?"  
"Yeah, I do. And I wasn't planning on this, it just happened… It called out to me… like it was trying to somehow… communicate with me. Though in a way that I didn't understand… I felt it. I wondered before if this thing might be alive, but I actually felt it."  
"Well. What did you feel then?"  
"I'm not sure. Yet, somehow, it felt familiar. Safe. Trusted… It was like I recognised it… and _it_ recognised me."  
"Either way, maybe it's a good idea to just leave it for now. Maybe you just got lucky, let's not touch it again okay? I don't want to see you getting hurt by some weird alien virus again." He kissed her forehead.  
They quickly cleared out he room, reported back to Coulson, and hid the object somewhere secure. They would check in on it again the next day, but for now, it looked like Simmons needed to rest. They moved to Fitz's room, to relax a little, completely unaware that the 084 had now awakened a new threat…


	9. Betrayal

After the exhausting events of today, Fitz and Simmons were sitting in Fitz' room, Fitz' arm around Simmons, and they were discussing the crazy things that had happened to them, the past week alone. But suddenly, there was a light knock on the door. "Come in." Fitz called out, slightly confused, as they weren't expecting any company. Nikki opened the door, walked in, and closed it behind her. "Oh, hello Nikki." Simmons said, smiling. "Is there anything we can help you with?" Nikki didn't move. She just stayed there, in front of the door, blocking it. "Yeah, I was just wondering where you two were all day? Some secret mission? Was it fun?" Fitz raised an eyebrow. "Come on Nick, you know we can't talk about that sort of stuff. It's classified." Nikki still didn't move away from the door but kept smiling. "You were working on an 084, weren't you? Let me guess, some weird wooden staff with strange symbols, which glowed when you picked it up?" Fitz pulled back his arm from Simmons and sat up straight. "W- wait. How did you know that?" Something was wrong. And Nikki was still blocking the door, still smiling. Fitz stood up, pulling Simmons from the couch, and behind him, shielding her. Nikki reached for something behind her and pulled out a gun. Fitz's eyes widened. "Whoa, wait, Nikki, what are you doing? Just… just think about this okay? Put down the gun, and we can talk this through. No one needs to get hurt. Please..." Nikki smile got even wider. "Don't worry. It's just an ICER. And this is nothing personal." She pointed it towards them. "Nikki, wait." Simmons pleaded. "We're friends, right? What do you-" But her sentence was cut short by the muffled shot of the ICER, and Fitz fell to the ground. Seconds later, there was another shot, and everything went black.

When she woke up, she couldn't see anything. It took a moment for her to find out why, but then she noticed that she was in a basement. Her hands were tied behind her back to some pipes, and her feet were duck taped together. In front of her, she saw Fitz, also tied up.  
"Good. You're awake." He said. "Are you okay?"  
"Yeah, I'm fine. But, where are we?"  
"I don't know. Some sort of basement?"  
"I figured out that much myself, thank you very much. But where's Nikki?"  
"I don't know. Maybe she just left us here."  
But right as he said that, the door opened, and Nikki walked through. Fitz felt a wave of anger when he saw that she was still smiling. "Hey guys!" She said like this was the most normal thing in the world. "I'm awfully sorry about this, but it was the best I could think of on short notice. And like I said, it's nothing personal."  
"Let us go, right now, Nikki!" Fitz said angrily. "I thought we were friends. Why are you doing this?"  
"Oh. We ARE friends. And I don't wanna hurt you. But I just need to ask you a few questions. Questions that, unfortunately, I'm afraid you would never answer out of free will."  
A strange look went over her eyes as she looked at Simmons. They had never seen it before, but they immediately felt uneasy because of it. It wasn't so much evil, or dark. But sadistic and psychopathic. Fitz shot a quick panicked look at Simmons, and then back to Nikki. "Please, whatever you're going to do, hurt me, leave Jemma alone." But this time Simmons spoke. "Fitz, you don't have to protect me. And she's not going to hurt us. I don't buy it. She's bluffing." Nikki slowly walked over to Simmons, who was looking at her defiantly, and knelt beside her. "I wouldn't bet on it, Jemma. Don't test me. You might regret it." Simmons looked back at her. She tried to look calm and determined, but the look in her eyes gave her away. "Do your worst." She said. Fitz tugged on his restraints, and tried to get up, but he was tied down too tight. "If you touch her, I'll kill you!" He yelled at Nikki. She stood up and turned her attention to him. "I'd like to see you try. I'm practically immortal. Sure, there are ways to kill me, but I don't feel like telling you those..." "Wait, you're immortal?" Fitz asked, surprised, and confused, but Nikki didn't elaborate, and just addressed both again. "Don't you at least want to know what I want? Maybe it's not so bad, you give me an answer, I let you go, and I'll be on my way. No one needs to get hurt, end of story."  
"Fine, what do you want?"  
"So glad you asked, Leopold! See, like I asked before: You were working on an 084, right? A little wooden staff that didn't seem to do anything, yet when Jemma, it lit up, but only her."  
"Wait. You know why that is? What is that thing?"  
"Don't worry too much about that okay? You just have to know that I want it. So, if you could just tell me where you left it, I can go and collect it."  
"So, it's a weapon then? You wouldn't avoid the question like that if it wasn't. What do you need a weapon for?" Fitz asked.  
"Because it's mine, and I just want it back. All you need to know is that it had been in my possession for a long time, before I lost it, and S.H.I.E.L.D. stole it. I just want it back, and once I have it, I'll let you go. Simple as that."  
"Well. You're in a bit of trouble then because we're never going to tell you where that thing is." Simmons said.  
She was trying to sound brave, but anyone could tell that she was terrified. And Nikki knew this. "Fine. You know what? I'm going to give you a moment to discuss, I'll be back shortly. Don't worry, I won't be long. Hopefully you'll have changed your mind by the time I get back." And with that said, she left the room.

Fitz and Simmons were alone again, and Simmons dropped her brave face. "Fitz. I'm scared." She said quietly. "Why does this always happen to us? I don't want to go through this again, I can't." Tears were welling up in her eyes.  
"Hey, Jemma. It's okay. I won't let anything happen to you. I'd like to see her try." He said comforting.  
"Let's not wait for that, though. Is there anything around you that you can cut those ties with?"  
She felt around in the dark, but her hands were tied down too tight. She could barely move them, and she could see Fitz struggling with the same problem.  
"Jemma, I don't think there is a way out… Not unless we take the one she gives us."  
She looked up in surprise. "What are you saying? Just telling her where that weapon is? Fitz, we've gone through this before, and the next thing we knew, Hive was on this planet. We cannot be selfish like that again!"  
"Jemma…" He said when he realised what she was saying, "that's out of the question. You saw the look on her face, we both know what she's going to do…"  
Simmons looked up at the ceiling. "Well, I'm just gonna have to accept it. I'm strong, I can take it. I have to."  
"But Jemma." Fitz' voice was almost inaudible, "Even if you can, I don't think I will be able to do the same. That's the reason this keeps happening, I'm just not strong enough to see you get hurt."  
"You have to Fitz. Promise me. Leave me with one less thing to worry about, please."  
"I can't…-"  
"But you have to. I forbid you to tell her where that thing is. No matter what she does, no matter how much she hurts me, do not tell her, please. Look away if you have to. Just close your eyes. I won't blame you for that."  
A silence fell over the room. "Fitz, I'm scared. I don't want to die, and I don't want you to die, but we can't be selfish. We have to keep that thing hidden, or everyone we love, all our friends will get hurt as well… Please… just let her kill me." But Fitz just closed his eyes and avoided the pleading look that Simmons gave him before he fell silent.

And then, they heard footsteps outside the door, and a key turning in the lock. Nikki walked in, carrying a gun that she laid down on a table that was standing against the wall. "That should have been enough time to think. So, have you decided? Are you going to help me, or are you going to make this difficult?" She first looked at Simmons.  
"Never."  
"Pity. What about you, Leopold?"  
He hesitated, tears welling up in his eyes. "No, Fitz!" Simmons screamed. "You can't!" But Nikki had already walked up to her, and taped her mouth shut. "I know where you stand Jemma, but let's allow Leopold to make his own decision okay?" She had said it with another sadistic smile. Fitz had closed his eyes, but he was trembling, and it was clear that he was close to breaking down. Nikki folded her arms over each other. "You disappoint me guys. I had so hoped that I wouldn't have to do this." She picked up the gun and loaded it very demonstratively. Fitz was now breathing heavily, and looked back to Simmons, who was pulling on her restraints as hard as she could to try and break free, as muffled screams came from her taped mouth. It was clear that she was panicking, though at this point, it was hard to tell if it was because of Nikki, or to convince Fitz to stay quiet. "Please. Leave her alone! I don't care if you hurt me but leave her alone!" he pleaded. Nikki aimed the gun at Simmons. "NOOOO!" Fitz shouted, as she carelessly fired the gun once. Simmons let out a scream as the bullet entered her leg, and her jeans coloured red with blood. She closed her eyes firmly, breathing heavily, trying to resist the pain. Fitz panicked, as he tugged on the restraints, trying to break free. "Please, don't do this!" He cried.  
"Then tell me where the 084 is!"  
She fired again, this time aiming for her abdomen. Simmons let out another scream, as she started to bleed out. Fast. "Please. Just… just give me some time to think." Fitz begged. Nikki raised her eyebrows. "Think? That's what you want to do? Don't you want to save her? You have to THINK about it?" She let out a little laugh. "Woah, Jemma, maybe I was wrong. Maybe he doesn't love you. That must hurt more than those bullets, doesn't it?" She said tauntingly. But Simmons didn't seem to care. At this point, she had stopped resisting, as she was clearly growing weaker due to the blood loss. Nikki walked over to her and put the barrel to her head. Simmons closed her eyes. "Well in that case, I'm going to give you one more chance Leo. If you don't care about her getting hurt, maybe this will convince you." Her finger was on the trigger, and she pushed it down slightly. After that she knew that she had won. Fitz stopped tugging on his restraints, and lowered his head, crying. "No, please. Don't kill her. Spare Jemma, I'll do anything." He said quietly. Tears were rolling down over Simmons' face. She was weak but shot one last pleading look to Fitz. He ignored her. "Please. Just let her go, I'll do anything you want. I'll tell you where that dammed thing is. But please, let Jemma live." Nikki lowered the gun.  
"Tell me then."  
"It's in the base. Coulson didn't want to store it away until we knew what it was, so we locked in his office, there's a secret vault under de table!"  
Nikki put the gun back to Simmons' head.  
"You'd better not be lying."  
"NO! I'm not! It's there, I swear!"  
Nikki lowered the gun again.  
"Alright then." She walked up to Fitz. "I will go there now to collect my prize. But if you are lying" She knelt down before him and grabbed him by the throat. "I will make sure that both your death's will be slow and painful, you understand?" Fitz nodded quickly. "This is your last chance to change your answer. Are you sure that that's where I will find the 084?"  
"Yes, I swear."  
She left the room again.

Simmons looked up at Fitz, her eyes were filled with disappointment and betrayal, but he couldn't bear to look at her. "I wasn't just going to let her kill you. I couldn't. I'm so sorry Jemma." But then she closed her eyes, as she passed out.


	10. Desperate hours

But Nikki didn't return. Fitz and Simmons just sat there, as she slowly bled out, and time passed on. Fitz had tried to call out to Simmons a couple of times but couldn't get a response anymore. He feared for the worst. He kept moving his wrists, sometimes tugging on the restraints forcefully, and other times trying to carefully move free. He needed to get out, if only to stop the bleeding, and keep Jemma alive just a little while longer. But he was unsuccessful, and only managed to cut himself on the ties.

After what felt like forever, he could hear voices and footsteps on the floor above him. He was cautious at first, until he realised that they didn't belong to Nikki. "Down here!" he screamed out, trying to get the attention of whomever was up there. A couple of moments later, light flooded into the room, and agent May walked in, her gun raised. But then she saw Fitz and Simmons and lowered it again, quickly running over to Simmons. "Simmons. SIMMONS! Talk to me. It's me, agent May." But she didn't get a response. "COULSON!" she shouted. "They're down here! We need medical! Right now!" "Is she alive?" Fitz begged. She quickly tried to find a pulse and found that it was very weak. "Barely."

The rest went quickly. Fitz and Simmons were cut loose, and Simmons was brought to the medical bay. And then, Fitz was sitting in the Zephyr, as they flew back to the base. "How did you find us?" He asked quietly. It just didn't make sense. Apparently, they had been in an entirely different country, thousands of miles from the base. How had Nikki brought them there? "The alarm went off." Coulson answered. "We found Nikki trying to break into the safe in my office. Whatever kind of plans she had, she didn't work them out very well… We iced her, and locked her into a containment room. When she realised that we weren't going to let her go, she quickly told us where to find you, but that was all she said… Can you tell us what she wanted? Because we suddenly had to lock up a valued member of the team, found you and agent Simmons locked up in a basement, with her now being in IC, and we have no idea why." Coulson insisted. Fitz looked at Daisy and May, who were also in the room, and then back to Coulson. "It was about… our assignment from yesterday." He said carefully. Coulson reconsidered for a moment, before he asked him to continue, of the opinion that everyone should get all the facts. "Somehow, Nikki knew about the 084. I swear, we haven't talked about it to anyone, but she knew. And she knew exactly what it was too. She wanted to know where we left it, so that she could reclaim it. She came to our room, ICED us, and then we just woke up in that basement. I have no idea how she was even able to get us there."  
"Okay, so, she kidnapped you. Locked you up somewhere on the other side of the world. Tortured you for information about some strange alien object. And then somehow hopped back to the base, in the middle of Coulson's' office, which was locked, mind you. My main question right now is, where the hell did she learn how to freaking teleport, because that's the only explanation I can think of." Daisy concluded.  
"Exactly. Just think about the other things she might be hiding from us." Coulson said.  
"She also told us that she's basically immortal, so that's new." Fitz told them.  
They all looked like they had many questions, but they knew they weren't going to get any answers. Instead, Coulson asked: "What else did she say about the 084?"  
"Just that it was a weapon, and that it had been in her possession before… before, apparently, we 'stole' it. Have you tried questioning _her_ about it?"  
"We did, but apart from your location, she refused to tell us anything." May answered.

Fitz entered Nikki's cell. Coulson had forbidden everyone to visit her, but he couldn't help it. He just had to know.  
"What is this game you're playing?"  
But Nikki didn't respond. Nor did she in any way acknowledge that he had entered the room. She just continued to meditate, clearly trying to concentrate on something.  
Fitz tried again. "Jemma is dying! Does that mean nothing to you? You killed her, and yet, here you are, acting like this is all just a game to you!"  
This time Nikki did react. She opened her eyes, and though it went by very fast, Fitz could just see a white glow leaving her eyes. She looked down at the ground.  
"Of course I care. But in case you haven't noticed, I'm locked up in here, there's not much I can do." She had said it with a kind voice, but somehow, this only enraged him more. She had closed her eyes again and continued meditating.  
"You said that you're practically immortal."  
Nikki opened her eyes and stood up from the bed but didn't walk closer to him. She looked at him, curious as to where this was going. He continued. "How does that work? If you get shot or anything, does it just heal immediately?"  
Nikki tilted her head slightly to the side, unsure of what to say.  
"Well, not immediately... I can always choose not to… But it also depends where I get shot. A headshot might knock me out for a while, a couple of weeks, months even. Shoot me somewhere else and, yes, I will heal, but it's still going to suck."  
"Good to know."  
Fitz grabbed his gun from behind him and shot her 3 times in the stomach. Nikki gasped for air, and collapsed, lading on all fours, and coughing up blood.  
"Hurts, doesn't it? That is what Jemma felt, you psychopath. And she won't just magically heal, she is going to die! And for what? You won't even tell us why!"  
Nikki lost all strength in her arms and legs and collapsed further. She laid on the floor gasping for air and choking on her own blood. She looked up at Fitz but couldn't say anything.  
"Why? Why did you turn on us? What do you want?" Fitz asked with tears in his eyes. "Who are you?"  
"Please…" Nikki said with great difficulty. "It wasn't meant to be this way. You were all going to be fine. You have to believe me."  
Fitz pointed the gun at her again. "Why would I believe anything you say? And why would I care about how you're feeling? You clearly didn't care about that when you shot her!"  
But before he could fire the gun again, Coulson had entered the room.  
"Agent Fitz, stand down!"  
For a moment, it looked like he was going to protest, but then he handed the gun to Coulson and left the room, saying, "Fine, I'm done here anyway." Coulson glanced at Nikki. "Is it true what you said? About you healing?" Nikki gave a weak nod. "I'll leave you to it then." And he left her on the floor as he walked out the room.


	11. A miracle

Two days later, she had completely healed. Coulson had come over a couple of times to ask her some questions, but she hadn't said a single word. Instead, she had resumed her earlier activity, and meditated all day long. She didn't eat. She didn't sleep. She just sat there with her eyes closed, not responding to any external stimuli. It looked like she was growing weaker though, and anyone could see that she was exhausted. However, she continued, clearly still focusing on something. Yet no one knew what that was.

In the meantime, Simmons' situation was slowly starting to look better. No one could explain it, but her wounds were healing at a fast rate. She still hadn't woken up, but it was clear that she was going to make a full recovery.

And then, just a couple of days after everything that had happened, she finally woke up. She was still weak, but her wounds had healed, and now she just needed to rest. No one understood what had happened. An injury like that would take ages to recover from, if at all. But she soon grew tired of the hospital bed and asked if she could return to her room to get some peace and quiet.

In the days after, Simmons was gradually getting better, yet no one could find any explanation for her remarkable recovery. Nikki had finally stopped meditating, but was still not answering any questions, and now just spent most of the days sleeping. "I don't understand." Simmons said one day, as she was looking at the cameras from Nikki's cell. "You'd think that in no way she regrets what she's done. How can she sleep at night?"  
"How can she sleep during the day?" Fitz asked, standing beside her.  
She looked up at him.  
"They told me you almost killed her. That you shot her three times in the stomach."  
"She told me herself, she can't die. I just wanted her to feel what you felt."  
"Fitz. I'm fine now. Don't stoop to her level. As long as she stays locked up in there, she can't hurt us anymore."

But she didn't stay locked up. No one knew when it had happened. One morning, she was just gone. There were no signs of a breakout. She had just vanished from the room. The last thing that the camera's showed was her sending fire to them, disabling them. There had also been no reports of anyone who saw her leave the base, or walk around the base, and she wasn't seen on any other camera's. Moreover, the staff was gone.  
"All agents. Drop whatever it is you're doing. I want everyone to be on high alert. It is of top priority that we find her." Coulson said to the team.  
Fitz looked at Simmons and put his arm around her protectively.  
"Do you think she'll come back to finish the job?" He asked carefully.  
But May shook her head.  
"After we captured her, she quickly told us where to find you. She looked like she didn't care, but I don't think she meant for anyone to die."  
"But she does have the staff. Who knows what she's planning to do with that?" Simmons said worriedly.  
Coulson looked back at them.  
"That's your job then. Figure it out."


	12. An old enemy returns

But whatever they did, they couldn't find her. It was like she had vanished from the surface of the earth. They spent ages looking for her but had to stop when an old enemy returned.  
"Hello Coulson."  
Wards voice spoke through the speakers, as his face was shown on the screen in Coulson's office.  
"Ward?"  
"Is that all you've got to say to me, Coulson?"  
"How can this be? What do you want?"  
"Well, it looks like I found your secret base, so, what I want is very simple. Open the doors, let me in, and I'll make this quick. I do recommend you not to fight back, we've got you surrounded, and I've got plenty of agents that are really up for a fight. Surrender your inhumans, and all alien weapons to us, and maybe we might just let you live."  
"Maybe you might just?" Leah said angrily.  
"And who might you be?"  
"We haven't met, but I've heard plenty about you, you backstabbing traitor!"  
Ward let out a little laugh.  
"She's feisty. But Coulson, is this really all you got these days? You are so desperate that you're recruiting children?"  
"Agent Pandargin is a more valuable member to the team than you ever where, Ward."  
"Well, it's not like that's very hard, now, is it?"  
He demonstratively loaded his gun on before the camera. Leah took a step forward.  
"Now, before we do all this, why don't you slip into something more comfortable… like a coma."  
"You think you're clever, don't you?"  
"No, just better than you."  
"You're going to sass me to death?"  
Ward gave another laugh.  
"If this is your 'army' Coulson, you really are in trouble. I'll see you in a minute."  
The screen went black, and the team was left bewildered behind.  
"He's back…" Fitz said quietly, as he lowered himself into a chair, putting his hands in his hair. He and Simmons had had the most unpleasant experiences with Ward, and Fitz was terrified.  
"What do we do, Coulson?" May asked.  
"Suit up, defend the base. We can't let him get away with this."  
And they left the room, preparing for the fight.

But it was hopeless. They were taken completely by surprise. The doors were breached, and the entire Hydra army flooded into the base. Many agents fought the best they could, but they were severely outnumbered. The team was driven back to the hangar, where they made their last stand. Coulson had given the order to take as many wounded agents as possible to the quinjets and get them to safety. The roof was open, and many of the ships had already left, though some of them were shot down again. The hangar was filled with the wreckages of these ships, still burning slightly.

The team was driven into a corner. They were still holding strong, but Hydra was everywhere, killing anyone they saw. May got shot in her shoulder and fell to the ground, exhausted.  
"We need to retreat. It's over." Coulson decided.  
"No, we can't let him get away with this. We have to keep going." May said, but everyone was too weak to go on. Leah used her powers to blind the soldiers that had fired at them, before turning herself and the team invisible, so that they could escape. That had bought them some time, but there were still too many Hydra agents, and too few S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.  
After a while, she had to let go, exhausted, and Leah slid down against the wall. The had lost all her fire and spirit and couldn't go on.  
"I'm scared." She said quietly. "We're going to die."  
"No, we can't lose hope, we might still get out of here." Daisy said comforting, but she too knew it was hopeless.  
"I can't fight without Nikki… we were a team, I always relied on her, I can't do this alone."  
"Come on, Leah, just hang in there. Nikki left us, but you're still here. That makes you better than her. You've fought brilliantly, don't give up now, okay?"  
She pulled her into a hug.

"Come on! We have to go!" Fitz screamed, as he pulled Simmons back to her feet. Daisy did the same with Leah.  
"We're going to beat them, okay?"

But before they knew it, Ward was walking up to them, escorted by a group of heavily armed soldiers. They were cornered and had nowhere to go.  
"It's over Coulson." 


	13. the army of the fire people

The fight was lost. Hydra was just too powerful. Everyone was exhausted, and severely wounded. They could not go on. Ward walked forwards and pointed his gun at them. "Sorry that it had to end this way. Though we all knew that in the end, one of us had to lose. Is there anything else you'd like to say?" Coulson looked at him, his eyes filled with hate, but he kept silent, refusing to play his game. Even Leah lost all her sass, and just closed her eyes, crying, and preparing for the bullet. "Alright then, have it your way." Ward said. "Kill them." He then said to his soldiers. But before they could fire, another fire appeared between the Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, circling around and forming some sort of portal. Through it, walked the last person they had ever expected to see again: Nikki. But she looked different. Her hair was wavy, and two braids that originated from the sides of her head, met in the middle, on top of her other hair. She was wearing armour of some kind, gleaming red and orange, like a burning fire, and with fiery red phoenix on it. It had a little chainmail skirt on the bottom, with some orange feathers rather than fabric, and black boots. Diagonally across her body, a couple of knives were strapped to a belt, the blades black, and the hilts beautifully decorated. To her side, the staff was strapped to another belt, the symbols glowing red. "Nicole…?" Coulson asked, confused. But she ignored him and addressed Ward directly.  
"You are really starting to annoy me." She said. "But I am going to give you one more chance to take your things and leave. I advise you to take it."  
Ward let out a little laugh, but he was clearly surprised, and unsure of what to do. So were the soldiers, who now slowly lowered their weapons.  
"Who are you then? Another child that Coulson recruited? Are you really their last line of defence?" Ward asked mockingly. "What are you going to do?"  
He pointed his gun at her. But Nikki didn't look scared or angry, just annoyed.  
"Ward, you are such a piece shit. Can't you please just die?"  
Ward laughed. "Sorry, I've got other plans. It's much easier if you just die. Then again, you are already dead, coming here all alone…"  
A small smile formed on her face.  
"Whatever made you think that I'm alone?"  
Suddenly, a couple of more portals opened, and out came multiple other woman, all dressed in a similar kind of armour that Nikki was wearing, and holding swords, axes, bows, and other weapons. And yet they all looked different. Some looked human, other Kree or Asgardian, and there were also a couple of alien species that the team did not recognise. Up in the sky, more portals opened, and from them, a flock of phoenixes flew down, their beautiful feathers practically glowing. They landed next to Nikki, between the Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, the largest landing right next to her. They screeched, and a few of the soldiers put down their guns and got to their knees, panicked. Nikki spoke up again, calmly, but in a strange language no one could understand. As she gestured to Ward, who was now slowly stepping back. _"Di'jun kai, hij kili!"_ She then gestured to the S.H.I.E.L.D. team and said _"Ak'ki! Ai Kirakai!"_ They looked on in shock. "What's that supposed to mean?" Daisy stammered, but Nikki had already turned back around and grabbed the staff. The symbols started to grow brighter, before two blades slid out from the ends. They were pitch-black, but beautifully decorated. Then she, and all other woman jumped forwards. The Hydra soldiers kept fighting, shooting around wildly at the new opponents, but it was useless. In the middle of it all, Nikki was jumping around, crossing of enemy after enemy. The entire sword was longer than she was, but she wielded it around with ease. Occasionally, she would grab the hilt in the middle, and pull it apart, leaving herself with two longswords in both hands. Everywhere was fire, as the army casually breathed it around.

The entire battle didn't take all that long. In a couple of minutes, the last Hydra soldiers were either dead, or defeated. The warriors surrounded the last surrendered soldiers, waiting for further instructions, as Ward was held separately, and was being tied down. Nikki walked over to the S.H.I.E.L.D. team, her sword retreated into the staff again. "Are you all right?" She offered her hand, but no one took it. "We're fine." Agent May said quietly.  
"Sorry it took so long, but you must understand that I first wanted to make sure that you couldn't handle it on your own, before bringing in the big guns."  
"What are you?" Fitz asked.  
But Nikki brushed him off by saying. "Later. Not here, not now. Come on, follow me." She turned around and walked away. The team hesitantly followed. She stopped just in front of where the largest bird was now standing, looking out over the team. It towered out over them, being at least twice as tall as any human. "Get. Down." Nikki hissed to them. Leah looked at her in surprise. "Excuse me?" Nikki looked her in the eyes, and it was clear that she was dead serious. "Kneel. That's the queen." Simmons shot a quick look at the bird, before she, and the team did as they were told. Nikki however, didn't kneel. The bird caught fire, and when the fire had disappeared, a woman was standing in its place. She was beautiful, with long flowing hair, and wearing a long fiery red, feathered dress. On her head was a beautiful crown. Nikki walked over to the queen, before bowing her head down respectfully. She then threw all her grace away, and ran over to the woman, wrapping her arms around her, and pulling her into a hug. The queen returned the hug, though a little more gracefully, before softly kissing the top of her head. "Melorae…" She said softly. But that was all they said. Nikki took a step back, as they both held up their left arm, and took each other's hand. A white glow came from it, as their eyes lit up as well. They stood like that for a while, in silence, before the light faded away, and they let go. The queen now turned towards the team, that was still kneeling, unsure of what to do.  
"You may rise." She then said. "Melorae tells me that she owes you many things, and a friend of hers, is a friend of mine" She gave a kind and gentle smile.  
The team got up, surprised. She spoke English? And when did Nikki tell her that?  
"Apparently, she has made a couple of mistakes. You must forgive her for that. My daughter is still young, and impulsive, and has a lot to learn." Nikki lowered her head, as she hid her face in her hand, as she slowly turned red. But the queen continued.  
"However, apart from that, you have taken loving care of her, and for that, I am grateful, and clearly in your debt. Who among you is the leader?"  
No one moved, until Nikki looked Coulson in the eyes, and nodded her head to the side quickly. He stepped forwards and stopped right in front of the queen and the princess.  
"If you would please present me with your left hand." She held out her own as well. He shot a quick look at Nikki, who nodded, almost imperceptibly. The same happened as before, a white glow coming from their hands, and their eyes lighting up. This time, it was a lot quicker, and the connection was broken before anyone could have guessed what was happening.  
The queen spoke again. "If you or your people are ever in need of aid, my army will be at your disposal." She gestured at Ward, who was now completely tied up, with nowhere to go. "Please accept this gift as well. Now, if you'd excuse me, and leave me to talk with my daughter." Coulson gave a small bow and walked back. Nikki and her mother were facing each other again. Nikki let out a small cry, as a tear rolled down her face.  
"I am going to miss you, mother." She said softly, before her mother hugged her again. "I wish I could come with you."  
"I know, Melorae, but you have to wait just a while longer. I will be awaiting your return." She kissed her forehead and put her hands on her shoulders. "Stay strong, my daughter. I am so proud of you." Nikki took a step back, as the queen transformed back into a bird, and flew up. All other warriors did the same and followed her. She spewed fire from her beak, which formed another portal. And then, they were all gone.

Nikki's armour caught fire, changing her clothes. After that, she was just standing there, like the Nikki that they knew before. Normal, human clothes, her hair loose, and a little messy, and a young, playful look on her face.  
"Ommygosh! My mom made you her Kirakai! Do you have any idea what an honour that is?" she excitedly screamed. Coulson looked surprised. "She did what? What the hell just happened? Who were those people?" Nikki opened her mouth, as though she was going to explain, but she hesitated, and closed it again. She looked at Ward. "Not here, not now. First things first, what do you want to do with him?"


	14. The lost princess

A while later, Ward was locked up, Daisy had recovered mostly, though she was still weak, and the team was sitting in Coulson's office. They were all standing around the table, with Nikki on her own on the other end. Nikki climbed on top of the table, and sat down cross-legged, like she had always done before, and nothing had changed. Of course, everything had changed.  
"Explain." Coulson said shortly.  
Nikki put her hand in her hair, also in the same cute, unique way that she had always done.  
"Where to start…" She said quietly. Do you want the short or the long version?"  
"Why don't you just start with your name?"  
"Again. Short or long version?"  
Daisy looked confused. "Wait, your freaking name has a short and long version?"  
"I'm a royal, it's all formalities."  
She fell silent for a while, before saying "My real, and full name is Lady Melorae I'aiki, princess of Asgard, Flame of the New World and heir to the throne of Aarkaa'aaria, daughter to her majesty Niuwa I'aiki of Aarkaa'aaria, Fire of Unity, Keeper of the Embers of Burning Mount Kir'aii, and Protector of the Fire Nation. But you can just call me Melorae. Or Nikki, whichever you prefer."  
Daisy looked dumbstruck. "Woah, that is a mouthful."  
Everyone fell silent, still intensely staring at the alien princess in their midst. Melorae sighed and continued.  
"Fine. I'll tell you my story, but I have a couple of conditions."  
"You have no right to set conditions after what you did."  
"But I will. And if you don't like it, I will just create a portal and leave this place. You will never find me, and you will never know. Moreover, my mother probably won't come to rescue you again the next time you're in trouble. Do you have any idea how lucky you are that I kept an eye on you all this time? And how much I risked with this little rescue mission? Not to mention that I saved Daisy's life, by literally giving her some of my own! You know, that also took quite a toll on me, I feel like I'll now live a couple of hundred years shorter!" She fell silent for a moment. "Then again, if you live for tens of thousands of years, I suppose I can miss 'em…" She took a deep breath, and a moment of silence to calm down.  
"Condition one: You will not speak about this to anyone. There is a reason I kept this a secret, and that reason goes a lot further than just a couple of people getting hurt. You have no idea what you're messing with. If any of you ever tells anyone about this, you can be sure that I will know of it. From there you can do whatever you want, but I will find you, and I will kill you. Along with anyone you may or may not have told. Am I making myself very clear?"  
A few people nodded, until Simmons suddenly spoke up.  
"No. You may have glossed over it just now, but you shot me!" She took a moment of silence before adding "Twice!" She took a step forward. "You tortured me and Fitz to get that weapon, how do you expect us to trust you? Especially if you're going to threaten to kill us again!"  
Melorae put both hands in her hair and lowered her head to think. "I am truly sorry about that. Aarkaa'aarians are war-creatures by nature. I guess I might have been carried away a little when Amari got into play… If it helps, the sword's name is Amari'Il Kanqua'ta. That means Protector of Innocents. It's not evil."  
"Yeah, but you are!" Fitz said angrily, stepping forwards too.  
Melorae pushed herself back over the table, so that she slid out of his reach before Coulson could hold him back.  
"Agent Fitz. Stand down. We don't have all the facts yet, and this might be our only chance to get them. Melorae has thus far made no move to hurt us. Leave her be. For now."  
Melorae looked down at the table, but then Leah spoke up.  
"No. I agree with Fitz. We can't trust her. She lied to us this entire time. Nikki, I loved you. How could you do this to us? Did you ever even care for us? For me?"  
Melorae didn't dare to look her in the eye, but just kept staring at the table.  
"Of course I care, why d'you think I came back? Leah, you really were my best friend, and you mean the world to me. And I hope that we can be that again, provided that I didn't completely ruin that… I may have lied to you about who I really am, but during my time here, everything I told you was true. You mean the world to me Leah, you all do."  
This seemed to silence everyone. For now. So she continued.  
"Second condition. Please don't interrupt me. It's a long and complicated story, and not something I like talking about. So please… just let me talk, and don't press me into telling you more then I'm comfortable with… And listen closely, because I'm not going to repeat myself." And then she started.

"First, I suppose I should tell you some things about Aarkaa'aaria. It's a very special planet, with very special people, see?" She stopped for a moment and rolled her eyes. "Maybe not the best phrasing…" But she just shook her head and continued. "Anyway, there are some things I should clarify for any of this to make sense to you. First, we may look like phoenixes, but we're not really. The last ones died generations ago, we're just their descendants. Second, we can get tens of thousands of years old, so 'generations' is a broad term. And we are among the most ancient species in the universe. Because of this, our biology is very different than yours… It would take a while to explain all differences, but the most important thing right now, is that we're exclusively female."

She took a moment of silence. She was speaking very slowly and clearly, to make sure that everyone understood, and had time to process what she was saying. Then she continued.

"That is just the way things are, but it does create a problem… To… reproduce, we need to 'mate' with other species, and that's where the different races of Aarkaa'aarians come from. Myself, I am Asgard-born, meaning that I'm Aarkaa'aarian with an Asgardian father. Are you with me so far?"

Everyone nodded, but they were confused as to where this was going, and how this mattered to the story.

"Now, that alone wouldn't be such a problem, since it created a lot of genetic diversity. But after a couple of generations, it did cause the phoenix-bloodlines to dilute. Aarkaa'aaria is a volcanic planet. One of the most desolate and dangerous places in the known universe. These days, only a full-grown Aarkaa'aarian can stand on its surface and live to tell the tale. Note that I said 'full-grown', meaning that Aarkaa'aarian children also can't survive there. That's why they always grow up with their father, on their father's planet, until they come of age and move back to Aarkaa'aaria to live out the rest of their lives."

She took another moment of silence to make sure that everyone was still following her. Many of them looked like they had so much to ask her, but they kept quiet, like they had promised.

"Now, that was the Aarkaa'aarian biology you needed to know, now let me tell you something about Aarkaa'aarian history and politics. Always fun right?" She said while rolling her eyes. "Tens of thousands of years ago, my grandmother was still on the throne of Aarkaa'aaria. Until then, Aarkaa'aarians had been creatures of war, always looking to conquer other civilisations. My grandmother loved it. And since we are among the most powerful races out there, it was easy, as the army just obliterated everything in its path… And that was how it had been going for hundreds of thousands of years… Until one day, my grandmother went too far… We were at war with…" Melorae closed her eyes, counting. "I think it was… 14… other planets? They could never beat us alone, but eventually, they decided that maybe it would be better to work together to take us down. And they did… almost. Our army had always been small, but that didn't matter much, as we had among the fiercest warriors known to mankind. Yet, strangely enough," She said sarcastically "from a certain point it doesn't matter how strong your people are, because if you're outnumbered a thousand to one, you're still gonna lose." She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Anyway, we would all have died, if it wasn't for the fact that at the last moment, my mother stepped in. She was the one that stopped the fighting and united all the worlds again. I'll give you some trivia here: we don't have queens or princesses. I am the Flame of the New World. The flame that will ignite into a Fire when I ascend the throne. From there, my way of ruling will decide the title I will get. My grandmother was the Fire of Conquest for example. And when my mother stopped the Last Great Intergalactical War, she was dubbed the Fire of Unity…  
Anyway, she stopped the fighting, took over the throne from her mother, and vowed to stop the old, aggressive ways of our people. Naturally, many of the people were outraged that we, 'the powerful nation of Aarkaa'aaria' just surrendered like that, and some of them still are. Several times groups of rebels tried to overthrow the crown since then, but my mother stood her ground, and now, this is just the way things are. Which, trust me, is a good thing, because prisoners of war who got brutally tortured every day, just for fun, were not uncommon." She sighed. "However, just because we swore off our ambitions to conquer the universe, doesn't mean that we scrapped the army. And to this day, we still have among the most powerful ones out there. Because of that, occasionally, the leader of another civilisation will seek audience with my mother to request military support when they're at war. And. This. Matters. For me at least…"

She took another deep breath, put up a little, cute smile, and started the story as though it was a fairy tale.

"Once upon a time, King Odin of Asgard was at war with the Ice-giants, and they were losing. Desperate, he asked my mother for military support. I'll save you the story of the negotiations and politics, and skip to the end, because they struck a deal. My mother would help them win the war, if King Odin would give her an heir. And, well, there's not much else to say about what happened next. The Aarkaa'aarians swept in, defeated the Ice-giants, and shortly after, a baby girl was born on Asgard… Me. Yeah… that's right. My birth was the result of a political arrangement… how romantic." She rolled her eyes and continued. "For the next… 234 years, there's not much to tell… I lived on Asgard, as a princess, running around with my brothers, Thor, and Loki. Everything was great. Until…"

She let out a little sob, and covered her face with her hands, as she sat there for a while, crying. After a couple of minutes, she continued again, choking on her tears.

"My father… as my power grew, so did his fear for me. He was still all too familiar with the conquering nature of the Aarkaa'aarians, so he believed that my mother had only put me there so that she could use me to take over the throne… And my father wanted me gone… Tried to kill me several times, and if it hadn't been for my brothers, he would have succeeded." She gasped for air, as her face was red with tears, and she was still choking on them. "Of course, no one would help him to kill the princess for no reason, even if he was the king, so he framed me. He slaughtered entire families, and made the people believe that I'd done it… He convinced them that I was dangerous, and evil, and needed to be taken out, and before I knew it, the entire freaking army was on my tail. For reference, in human years, this would make me about 12"

She put her hands in her hair again, the horror she had gone through was clearly visible on her face. She took a couple of minutes to fight back her tears, and take several deep breaths, until she finally continued, somewhat calmer.

"The only people who trusted me for who I was were Thor and Loki… I owe them my life. They convinced Heimdall to open the Bifrost, and brought me to earth, where no one would find me. Of course, the Asgardian army was still looking for me, until Heimdall convinced them that he couldn't see me anymore, and was probably dead… That is why you need to keep this a secret, because if my father finds out that I'm alive, he'll come for me. To find and kill me. And he'll destroy earth in doing so…" Another moment of silence. "And Earth won't be the only planet to burn. The only reason my mother didn't kill everyone on Asgard is because I begged her not to. To just leave things the way they are, for now. But if Odin kills me…"

She didn't continue after that. She wiped away her remaining tears and returned herself to a state of rest. Instead of looking down at the table, like she had been the entire time, she now looked directly at the team.

"So. That's how I ended up here, 104 years ago. And I've been living here ever since. An exiled princess living on a strange planet under a false name, with a father who wants her dead, and another 82 years until she can return to her mother. That about sums it up. Now if you'll please excuse me, I need some air."


	15. Picking up de pieces

Melorae stayed locked up for the next couple of days. Most of the time she just sat in the corner, either singing softly or daydreaming. She hadn't tried to escape, nor did it look like she was going to. Clearly, she was patiently waiting to be let back in, or to stay there as their prisoner. Occasionally, someone would come around to ask a couple of questions. And Melorae didn't shy away from telling everything she knew. About her home planet, her family, or her own story. The problem was that no one seemed to fully trust her. And why would they? All they had to go on was her word, and she had been lying for a long time. For all they knew, she was still doing it.

Until one day, the answer came. The surprises hadn't ended, and one day, Thor suddenly entered the base.  
"Thor?" Coulson had asked surprised. "What are you doing here? How did you even find this base?"  
But he didn't answer the questions. "I'm looking for my sister. She was supposed to be here. I need to talk to her."  
The team hesitantly showed him to Melorae's containment module but were still unsure as to believe that they were really siblings. Their doubts were taken away very quickly though.

Despite Coulson urging him to stay behind the glass, Thor had entered the room immediately. Melorae looked up to him. There was a moment of silence, as neither of them moved.  
"Thor?" Melorae spoke quietly.  
But he didn't reply. Instead, he took out his hammer, and placed it somewhere between them. Melorae first looked at the hammer, and then at him, before she nodded. She walked over to it, and picked it up, before spinning it around in her hand, no effort.  
"It's really you then?" Thor asked, clearly surprised.  
Melorae dropped the hammer carelessly, and she ran up to him, wrapping him in a big hug. Thor pulled her up with one arm, returning the hug, but shuffling through her hair with the other hand at the same time, much in a way that a brother would do a younger sibling. Melorae immediately let go, bringing her hands to her hair, and trying to repair the damage, as Thor looked on, laughing.  
"Thor! Don't do that! We talked about this!" She said, slightly annoyed, but it was clear that she was thrilled to see him.  
"Long time no see, sis." He replied, as he pulled her back into a hug, a little sweeter this time, and kissed the top of her head. He then looked at her a lot more seriously.  
"Now, I've heard that you've been causing a lot of trouble. I want to help you, but you need to be honest with me. What happened?" Melorae was silent for a while, before she started rambling something in another language, probably Asgardian. Thor listened quietly, but his face showed his disappointment. After Melorae had finished speaking, he turned to look at Coulson.  
"Who was the one that got hurt?" He asked.  
Coulson gestured at Simmons, who was standing somewhere in the back, silent.  
"Please, forgive my sister for her actions." He said. "I will make sure she will be justly punished for what she did, but I know that she has no evil intentions. If you're unsure if you can trust her, trust me. I know Melorae, and I know that she can get rather impulsive at times, especially when the stakes are as high as they are. But she has a good heart. I will vouch for her."  
Coulson was silent for a while, hesitant, but then he nodded. Thor continued.  
"Now. If you'll excuse us. I'd like to have a word with my sister in private."  
He looked back at Melorae. She nodded slowly and dropped her head sadly. She then turned around and lifted her hand to her mouth, as she exhaled. It was like she blew a kiss, as the fire passed over her hand, and then formed a circle in the middle of the room. She walked towards the portal, and stopped in front of it, waiting for her brother to join her. They stepped through the portal together, and then they were gone.


	16. Forgiveness

Suddenly, the alarm went off. Daisy walked through the hallways to Coulson's office.  
"I saw the base is in lockdown. What is going on?" She asked.  
No one said anything, but they showed her. Wards cell was trashed, and he was nowhere to be seen.  
"He did it again. We should have just killed him." Agent May told her.  
"Where is he now?" she asked.  
"He's taken a few agents hostage and is demanding that we let him to the Zephyr. We don't know how long it will take before he starts killing them." Coulson said.  
"Then what do we do?" Daisy asked him.  
"Either we give into his demands, or we accept the fact that we might lose a couple of agents in an attempt to take him out…"  
An eerie silence fell over the room.  
"There has to be something we can do…" She stammered.  
"Actually, there is."  
Melorae's voice had come from the doorway. Agent May immediately took out her gun and pointed it at her.  
"Give me one reason not to shoot you." She demanded.  
Melorae remained calm and folded her arms. She started counting on her fingers.  
"I saved all of your lives, Thor vouches for me, I think I have proven myself to not be evil, oh, and, I can solve this little 'conundrum' of yours."  
She looked slightly annoyed, but her expression changed when May slowly put down her gun. She was filled with determination.  
"What do you mean? What are you going to do?"  
"I'm going to fix this."  
She walked over to Coulson.  
"Give into his demands." She told him.  
He looked shocked, surprised, and not like he trusted her in any way.  
"Are you insane? If he leaves, we might never catch him again!"  
Melorae formed a little smirk on her face.  
"Exactly. You might not, but I can. I can fly, remember? Let him fly away, then I'll take him out one on one in the Zephyr. No one gets hurt. Well, except for him of course…"  
The team looked at each other, hesitating. Many of them looked like they had a lot to say to her, but they couldn't find the words.  
"Maybe she's right…" Simmons suddenly said.  
Fitz looked at her in surprise, before pulling her towards him, and talking to her quietly, so that no one else could hear it.  
"Are you insane? You remember what she did, right? Last time we trusted her, you nearly died! And now you're siding with her?"  
But she brushed him off and addressed the entire group again.  
"I vote for her plan. She's right. This way, only she has to risk her life. If you succeed, we will be rid of Ward, and maybe, just maybe, we might be able to trust you again. If you fail, at least we'll be rid of you."  
Melorae looked down at the ground, showing that this comment really hurt, but then she looked up again, waiting for the final decision. Coulson made eye-contact with her and said. "We'll leave you to it then."  
Melorae nodded and walked over to the window, opening it.  
"Tell Ward that he can take the Zephyr. As soon as he flies away, I'll follow close behind."

Minutes later, the deal was struck, and Ward flew away with the ship. Just before Melorae left, Leah walked over to her.  
"In case this goes wrong, I just wanted to say… It's good to see you, Nick."  
She pulled her into a hug.  
"Thank you." Melorae said, smiling, but then she transformed into a phoenix, and flew out the window, following Ward. From there, the team just had to wait. About half an hour past before they could see the Zephyr on the horizon, the small bird carrying it back with significant effort. She slowly put it back in the hangar, before turning back and lying down on the top of the ship, panting. When the team arrived to see what had happened, she was the first to speak.  
"It is done…" She said, completely out of breath. "He won't bother you again."  
She got up and looked down on the team. Like she same kid that she had always been, she asked, "Please tell me that I repaid my debt. I'm tired... I'd love to sleep in my old bed. Please…"  
The team exchanged a few looks, before they all nodded, some smiling kindly.  
"Welcome home, Nicole."

...

Hello everyone. I'm afraid that this is the ending of the base line of the story, but there is a part 2! So keep waiting for future updates.


End file.
